Syncplify Help Center

Applies to: Syncplify.me Server!
Version(s): 4.x - 5.x
Warning:    this articles refers to an older version of our software

Another requirement found in the latest versions of both PCI-DSS and HIPAA regulations is the necessity to keep an “untamperable” log of all configuration operations performed by an administrator.

Digitally signing every single log line is not enough, as the disloyal employee could simply delete some log lines entirely. Therefore each line should have a numeric incremental ID (to make it easier to spot “holes”) and each line’s digital signature should “roll over” and be calculated including the previous line’s digital signature in the signed data. This way an administrator cannot delete one (or several) log lines without being spotted.

Furthermore, to make log analysis even easier, each log line is not actually just a “line of plain text”, rather it’s a JSON object that can be easily queried. Here below you can see a typical “log line” showing a call to a configuration REST API and the relative response and signature:

{
    "_id" : 26538,
    "TimeStamp" : "2016-01-27T23:05:13",
    "RemoteIp" : "192.168.172.99",
    "Username" : "admin",
    "Method" : "POST",
    "Url" : "https://192.168.172.99/sms.PassUtil",
    "Request" : {
        "command" : "checkcomplexity",
        "APass" : "****"
    },
    "Response" : {
        "Result" : -1,
        "ResultMsg" : "Password is too short"
    },
    "Signature" : "HaH4EToTx2ytPcg7Duslz4HUZO1uJXksAnzSUCR53P4="
}